A team of RESNET staff, HERS® Raters, and Providers built a house in San Diego as a pre-conference event of the 2023 RESNET Conference. A playhouse, that is. Since 2019, RESNET Emerging Leadership Council has organized a volunteer activity before the start of the RESNET Conference, as a way to give back to our host city and the industry. This year, RESNET partnered with the San Diego affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and its playhouse program, which provides a dynamic, fun, and meaningful construction/teambuilding project. On the morning of November 15, the team of 10 RESNET volunteers built and decorated a durable playhouse which San Diego Habitat will donate to local families, child development centers, or the Habitat REStore. Each playhouse takes 3-4 hours to build and paint. The RESNET Volunteer team assembled the sides, door, windows, and trim, constructed the roof, and painted the completed structure. This will be the third time RESNET has organized volunteers from the rating industry to participate in an event before the RESNET Conference. Before the 2019 RESNET Conference in New Orleans, 15 volunteers helped build a home with around 20 area high school students and a local nonprofit, unCommon Construction. Before the 2020 RESNET Conference in Scottsdale, around 25 volunteers stocked and priced items at the local Habitat ReStore with Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona. Said RESNET spokesperson Valerie Briggs, “We are so proud to have partnered with the San Diego Habitat for Humanity on this playhouse build. We see volunteering as a great way to give back to our host city and to promote energy-efficient construction. We hope to continue to do so as an annual tradition for conferences for years to come.” About San Diego Habitat for Humanity: People in our community partner with San Diego Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners build their homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With our help, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability, and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families Habitat for Humanity exists through volunteer labor and contributions of money, land, and materials, including purchases and donations to the ReStore, Habitat’s discount home improvement retail center. For more information, visit www.sandiegohabitat.org or call 619-283-HOME (4663).
